Journal Article

·2025 OPEN ACCESS

A Theoretical Introduction to Organizational Tradition: An Analytical Framework Beyond Culture

Ayşe ÖNER ÇEVEN YTU , Ali E. Akgün YTU

Yildiz Social Science Review

Abstract

This study aims to examine the concept of organizational tradition within an independent analytical framework. While tradition has long been discussed in the social sciences through ritual, symbol, narrative, and memory, it has often been treated as synonymous with organizational culture in organizational studies, which has overshadowed its analytical potential. The study adopts a conceptual review method, systematically analyzing key literature on culture and tradition to develop a comparative framework. Within this framework, the article distinguishes between culture and tradition, highlighting the structural components of organizational tradition and its functional dimensions. Accordingly, organizational tradition is positioned not as a sub-element of culture but as a distinctive institutional structure that shapes normative orders and identity formation processes. Future research in this field can contribute to a better understanding of the analytical potential of organizational traditions as well as their practical implications.

Keywords

Normative Organizational studies Organizational culture Field (mathematics) Organization development Organizational learning Organizational behavior Organizational structure Organizational engineering Sociology Epistemology

Subject Areas

Management and Organizational Studies ·Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management ·Social Sciences
Management Theory and Practice ·Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management ·Social Sciences
Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior ·Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management ·Social Sciences